Friday December 6: Vancouver Canucks 3 Phoenix Coyotes 2 (OT)
The Vancouver Canucks have started December on a three-game winning streak, though Friday's victory over Phoenix was no work of art. Here are your highlights:
Much like several games from their their last homestand, Vancouver squandered a lead in the third period, allowing the Coyotes to earn a point and take the game to overtime.
The game also resembled the teams' first matchup of the season in Phoenix, a month ago. After falling behind 1-0 in that game, the Canucks fought back to take a 2-1 lead before surrendering the tying goal just before the end of the second period, then losing in the shootout.
The good news from Friday is that Vancouver was—finally!—able to bounce back and salvage a win after surrendering the lead. Phoenix came out strong in the third, but the Canucks also had some good chances in the minutes leading up to the first goal. After David Moss tied the game, Vancouver also continued to press. Unlike the games from the last homestand, they had lots of shots in the last five minutes of the third period and three shots in overtime, including Chris Higgins' eventual game-winner.
After the game, John Tortorella talked about situational play, and how this is an area where the coaching staff still needs to do some teaching:
"We have to get out of this situation of not finishing games. We're going nowhere until we do."
Imagine if this had been Game 82, with the Canucks sitting one point behind Phoenix for the last playoff spot. Vancouver got its two points last night but because the Coyotes grabbed a single, they're still ahead in the standings. Getting the win but still missing the playoffs—could there be a more heartbreaking outcome?
I guess the good news is that Vancouver's *real* final games of the season in April will be against Edmonton and Calgary, as usual. Something will have gone terribly wrong if we're battling them for position. Before that, the Canucks play four home games in April: against the Rangers, Kings, Ducks and Avalanche. They'll need to show real improvement in the 60-minute aspect of their game to get through that stretch successfully—and they'll have to show some bite against their division rivals to have any hope of making noise in the postseason.
Ice Time and Combos:
The injuries to the Alexes—Burrows and Edler—have brought some interesting new on-ice deployments. David Booth did spend the entire game with the Sedins. He had 17:30 of ice time, including a minute on the power play, but registered no shots. I don't know what to do with Jannik Hansen, but I liked Booth with Richardson and Weise and thought he could have been a difference-maker if he'd been the third forward on those chances that failed to convert in the third period.
Zack Kassian played 6:40 on the fourth line with Dalpe and Sestito. I doubt we'll be seeing him riding shotgun with the twins anytime soon.
Mike Santorelli actually logged the most ice of all the forwards on Friday, with 21:58.
Big minutes for the key defensemen in the absense of Alex Edler. Dan Hamhuis led the charge with an amazing 29:36—and was a plus-1. The rest of the group, in order, were Bieksa (26:30), Tanev (24:54), Garrison (22:36), Stanton (17:38) and Alberts (6:33).
Interesting to see Tanev log more minutes than Garrison. He got a nice vote of confidence from his teammate Eddie Lack after the game:
Watching Tanman block a shot is like seeing Leonardo da Vinci paint the Mona Lisa. #art
— Eddie Lack (@eddielack) December 7, 2013Tanev had just one block on Friday. Must have made quite an impression!
Andrew Alberts was inconspicuous—which is a good thing. He had one shot and one block; no hits. He also played just one shift in the third period, very early on. Tortorella was reluctant to use him even before the lead frittered away.
Quick Hits:
- The power play has now run its streak to seven straight games thanks to Jason Garrison's second-period one-timer on Friday. Amazing, after the awful start. The power play is very slowly climbing the rankings, now up to 25th.
- Excellent deployment of the twins on the penalty kill led to Vancouver's second goal. Daniel and Henrik took the second shift, and Henrik made a terrific shot-block near the end of the PK to help get the puck away from the Coyotes. That's part of the reason that Ryan Stanton was able to pick it up when he came out of the penalty box. He had lots of energy while the twins were skating on tired legs; I think Stanton's initial gaffe with the puck—where Keith Yandle gave it right back—actually gave Daniel and Henrik the time they needed to get into the zone. An interesting counterattack that we haven't seen before, in my memory.
- The Canucks practice at Rogers Arena at noon today ahead of their 5:00 pm contest against Colorado on Sunday. I'll be back tomorrow with a preview of that game.